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A lot of cartoon villains are ‘masterminds’ and the cartoon image of a scientist or academic is also often an middle aged or older bald man. I’m not sure if ha
by mr_toad 4y ago
A lot of cartoon villains are ‘masterminds’ and the cartoon image of a scientist or academic is also often an middle aged or older bald man. I’m not sure if hair loss is actually more common among scientists, or if it’s just correlated with age.
- robonerd 4y agoI think masterminds are often bald with large heads to suggest exceptional intelligence. Baldness helps show that their head really is big, not just their hairstyle.
- dTal 4y agoWhich reveals another interesting and concerning trope: the villain gets ahead by using their intelligence, and the hero solves the problem with brute force, possibly magically augmented. Very seldom is it the other way around.
- robonerd 4y agoSounds like you want more detective stories, not superhero stories. Smart hero defeat the evil brute using his whit is a common sort of story if you know where to look, but Hollywood does seem to be on a superhero glut for the past 15-20 years. They produce a smothering amount of drivel, to the point where it's easy to forget that anything else exists.
- dTal 4y agoIt's not limited to superhero stories. Even the quintessential story detective, Sherlock Holmes, meets his match in a "criminal mastermind" whom he ultimately defeats with... his superior skill at wrestling. Admittedly that was some of Arthur Conan Doyle's laziest writing.